A week+ later

This is a time machine of sorts, since I wrote this blogpost more than a week ago, but couldn’t log in on my tablet. Enjoy the trip into the past!

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What I planned to do…

…was to write a blogpost about Angelo Neumann, the amazing first director of the Neue deutsche Theater in Prague in late 19th century. His enthusiasm, innovative concept of the “theatre of special events” and a lot of hard work made the theatre truly exceptional. I fictionalized Neumann in “The Wagner Trouble”, but he would deserve a whole book to do him justice. (To Czech-speaking readers, I wholeheartedly recommend “Až k hořkému konci”, a nonfiction book about the Neue deutsche Theater by musicologist Jitka Ludvová). Hopefully there will be other occasions to write about him, since we have written two more stories set in the theatre together with Lucie Lukačovičová. One was just rejected after 296 days of consideration (which is an awful lot of consideration compared to the average 7 days for that market, so I guess that we should be pleased if we weren’t moderately pis… um, disappointed, I mean).

I also wanted to write a piece about the current status of bush elephant populations and the risks they face. Despite attempts to stop poaching, they still need a lot of help – and let’s hope they don’t end up like in “To See The Elephant”. These wonderful animals were a great inspiration to me and I owe them. Another inspiration (spoiler-laden; read the story first) was this paper, an occurrence which shows that attending evo-devo classes pays off in more than exciting scientific work.

Besides that, I wanted to finish an analysis for a commentary in progress, and revise a paper lacking some in the introduction and discussion. As it is, I didn’t manage any of them before my flight to Stockholm, where I’m writing this, so here’s what you can expect instead (and expect enthusiastically you should): Starting Monday, I’ll be at an astrobiology meeting in Tällberg. I’ll try to write some regular updates. On Wednesday, I’ll be presenting the state of astrobiology outreach and education in the Czech Republic. I hope to learn some insights on how to increase its reach and impact, what to do differently, what more to do… I’ll also looking forward especially to the sessions on habitability of M dwarfs’ planets, and limits of survival of Earth life in terms of radiation. Then, on Friday, I’m off to Göteborg for the Vetenskapfestivalen popular science festival. I’m doing a podcast Friday afternoon, and a talk Saturday morning. If you’re there by any chance, you’re welcome to attend! I thank the Czech Centres immensely for arranging the whole journey for me. So – expect a few new posts in the near future, and stay tuned!

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End of journey back in time. Long story short: Sweden was perfect – seeing the country, attending the meeting and talking with the other attendees, speaking at the Vetenskapfestivalen… I didn’t have a chance to write regular updates due to the login problems, but expect one long blogpost most likely tomorrow. So – until then!